Friday, February 24, 2017
Wonders In Writing: The Impact of Our Writing
Wonders In Writing: The Impact of Our Writing: I have often said I am inspired at the oddest times and have no notion where my ideas, which I call germs, come from or eve...
The Impact of Our Writing
I
have often said I am inspired at the oddest times and have no notion where my
ideas, which I call germs, come from or even what they mean– not until I write
about them; with that in mind, I would like to tell you, Dear Reader, about a dream
I had. It focuses on a cherished childhood story.
In a window where the sun shone
every day stood several toys: two dolls –
a blonde doll with bright blue eyes; she wore a blue gingham dress past her
knees and a white apron. Her blonde hair was divided into two braided pony tails,
and a brown-haired doll with dark brown eyes, which stood close to the first
doll. This second doll also had her hair divided, but into two bushy pony tails.
She wore a brown dress with a beige apron, and on her face, she had a gold pair
of eyeglasses. On the shelf, also, were the following: a
white sheep, a dark brown horse, and two black and white cows; not far off
was a cherry-red, race car. On the very top shelf was a pink piggy bank. This
toy had two black eyes and long, black eyelashes.
Every day a girl came to see these
toys. She watched as the toys were bought and replaced. The pink piggy bank
never moved. She wanted her mom to come with her one day. Maybe her mom would
fall in love with the toy, too, and buy it so they could take her home. But her
mom never came and so the girl would come and watch and wait and hope no one
else would buy the piggy. Because the girl loved that piggy so much it was
difficult for her to understand why no one wanted the piggy.
As a young female reader I, like
the girl in the story, didn’t understand why that piggy stood alone day after
day. What was the meaning in that?
I read and loved this story before I
studied and understood like elements like theme -- what point the writer wanted
the reader to get from the story – characterization, setting, and symbolism.
Today, I could speculate on these
different elements, but what good would that do seeing I don’t have access to
that story? I don’t remember the title or the author’s name. All I do know now
is this story had such an impact on me it has stayed with me all these years,
and this is much, much longer than most memories remain. This may be the point
of the story: some stories become a part of us; they remain with us through the
good and the bad, and they come back to us when we’re reflecting on something
else.
And this is the responsibility that
we must have to our readers – to remember that what we write does become a part
of our readers’ psyche. And for the writer to remember that it is indeed an
honor to know that something we wrote will be filed into the deepest parts of
the reader’s mind and heart.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
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